Introductions

Are you in the right room?

(This is GVPT 201: Scope and Methods for Political Science)

Hello

  • Instructor: Neil Lund

    • Email: nlund@umd.edu (please don’t contact me through ELMS)

  • Office: 1140C Tydings Hall (in the suite behind the glass doors)

  • Office Hours: Tuesday/Thursday 11:15 AM to 1:30 PM or by appointment

What to expect

Lecture

This is what you’re doing right now. Expect something very much like this.

Choices

  • Attend in person (this is the only format where you can ask questions!)

  • Watch Zoom (check the Zoom tab on ELMS)

  • Watch recordings on ELMS page.

Due dates listed on ELMS are hard deadlines.

Discussion sections

  • Every Friday, led by your TA

  • Join in person or on Zoom.

    • Zoom participants must have cameras on during the class

  • Attendance is mandatory and participation is 10% of your grade

    • Recordings will still be on ELMS in the “Section Recordings” folder of the Panopto tab

  • This is your best chance to ask homework questions, get feedback, and clarify concepts, so come prepared. (Read workbook and look at homework beforehand)

Resources

There’s additional materials on the syllabus.

Going forward I will generally try to link study materials on the modules tab in ELMS.

What are we doing here?

Political Science Research

Normative Research

“Ought” questions

  • What constitutes a just society?
  • What are the qualities of a good leader?
  • What obligations do citizens have towards their governments?

Empirical Research

“Is/Are” questions

  • Are democracies less likely to go to war compared to autocracies?

  • Do protests prompt political change?

  • When are political parties most likely to be unified around a shared platform or ideology?

Political Science Research

This course will focus primarily on the empirical and quantitative aspects of research.

But ideally, these goals should inform each other.

Empirical Research: goals

  1. Identify a research question

  2. Define key concepts

  3. Formulate a testable hypothesis

  4. Collect data, conduct analysis, and assess results

  5. Collectively: accumulate knowledge about the world

Empirical Research: Stats

Numbers are for nerds, but you need some stats and basic programming skills to get through this course, this program, and probably your career and for general life stuff.

Conceptual Outline of the course

  • Weeks 1 through 3: How to measure stuff and why it matters

  • Weeks 4 through 8: Description, comparison, and hypotheses

  • Weeks 9 through 10: Inference and statistical tests

  • Weeks 11 through 14: Correlation and regression analysis

Grades

  • Workbook HW (25%): R coding, usually due on Thursdays at midnight

  • Survey analysis (35%): design, distribute, and analyze a (non-representative) public opinion survey.

    • Biggest component is an end-of-term data analysis paper

  • Exams (25%): open-notes/open book exams administered through ELMS.

  • Section participation (10%): Based on engagement, not participation alone.

  • Lab (5%): participate in 3 studies conducted by GVPT faculty and students.

Important Reminders

  • If you want to purchase the textbook and workbook from another source, opt out of the First Day program by February 11! You will be billed by February 17th.

  • Install R and R-Studio by Friday (there’s instructions in the intro chapter of the workbook)

Something to think about

For next class:

How do we get from contested concepts like “democracy” or “public opinion” or “ideology” to something that can fit in a spreadsheet? What are the tradeoffs required to make this work?